Hand-brake lever



HAND-BRAKE LEVER Filed Sept. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I INVEN TO R I Feb. 16, 1943.

c. w; CALDWELL HAND-BRAKE LEVER Filed Sept. 8, 1941 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES WILLIAM G'AbDWEbb By I A P FY 1 Patented Feb. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 2,311,20 HAND-BRAKE- LEFVEB- Charles William Caldwell, Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa Application September 8, 941, Serial No. 410,107 6 Claims. (01. 74-479),

This invention has reference to hand levers for operating the hand brake of a motor vehicle.

An object of the invention is to provide such a hand brake with a detent that is available in all positions of the lever to detain the lever against brake releasing movement. Another object is to provide a detent device that is more easily released than those of the ratchet and pawl type which usually require an additional pulling up movement before the pawl can be freed from Y the somewhat overhanging ratchet teeth. An-

other object is to facilitate the provision of a duplicate brake operating lever.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention showing the hand brake lever detained in the brake-on position.

Figure 2 shows the hand lever still pulled up but unlocked and ready for downward movement to release the brake.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on 3-4. Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a similar section on 4-4, Fig. 21.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section on 5-5, Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is a detail view showing the hand lever broken open to exhibit a lock.

Figure '7 is a perspective view of. another form of the invention with the hand lever detained in the brake-on position.

Figure 8 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the brake lever arm taken on 8-8, Fig. {7.

Figure 9 is an enlarged horizontal section on 9-9, Fig. 7.

Figure 10 is similar to Fig. 9, but shows the detent device released.

It] indicates the hand lever of a car hand brake terminating in a hand grip ll. Said lever is so mounted on shaft I2 that said lever and shaft rotate rigidly together about the axis of the shaft. The shaft is free to rotate in fixed bearings l3 and has rigidly mounted on it an arm 14 which operates the brake mechanism. The latter is represented, as far as is necessary for this invention, by the rod 1 5. By pulling the lever it! up in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the rod I5 is moved under tension to apply the brakes; and, correspondingly, the brakes are released by relaxing movement of rod l5 due to swinging the lever I0 down in the direction opposite to that of arrow A.

In order to hold the brake on, means are pro vided whereby the lever I0 is detained in the position to which it has been pulled in applying the brakes. This position varies from time to time as the brake linings wear away; and it is a lock said lever.

desirable feature of the detent means that it should be ready to lock the lever in any such position and with little or no slacking back movement of the lever. With this object the .detent means provided according to the inventioncomprises a fixed quadrant It co-axial with the lever l0 and shaft I2. The quadrant is made of such cross-sectional form that it can be embraced on two opposite sides by a detentmember gapped to admit it; and in the example shown it is made of smooth round rodybent to shape. One end of the rod is secured at l! to a'fixed point of the car body; the other end being anchored by a stationary sleeve .l 8 supported by the shaft l2.

The lever It] carries a detentmember l9 shown as a tongue of flat metal, projecting laterally from the lever I0 and formed with an. eye 20 embracing the quadrant rod It. It is well known that insuch a rod and tongue combination the tongue will slide freely along the rod so long as it remains substantially perpendicular to the latter; but will lock on the rod when allowed or caused to tilt about its eye. This property is made use of according to the invention -by holding the tongue l9 perpendicular tothequadrant rod I6 when free movement of the hand lever Ill is desired, and tilting it relatively to the rod to For this purpose, in the Figure -1 to 6 construction, the tongue is bent at 2| to form two end portions 22 and 23 inclined to one another. The portion of the lever H] with which the tongue is engaged is made of hollow section, with its opposite side walls formed with slots 24, 25 in which the tongue is an easy fit to slide in the direction of .its length and laterally to the lever Ill. The centreline 26 of these slots is 'at an inclination to the horizontal equal to the supplernent of the angle included between the portions 22 and 23 of the tongue. Consequently upon the tongue being slid endwise,'s o that its endport-ion23 is seated in the slots, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, its end portion 22 is firmly held in a horizontal position and perpendicular to the rod [6; so that it cannot lock with the latter. On the other hand upon its being slidfin the opposite direction so that aportion of both ends or only the end portion .22 is engaged in the slots, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 6, said portion 22 is tilted at an inclination to the rod it which permits or causes its eye to lock with said rod. This inclination being upward, it tends to be increased by the downward drag of the lever Ill-so that the tongue is operative to lock said lever lllwhen the brakes are on; and the locking grip is the the lever is nearest to the quadrant, it retains the tongue in its tilted locking position as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 6, and when it is most distant from the quadrant it holds the tongue horizontal as in Figs. 2 and 4. The lever is normally held 7 in the first-mentioned position by the spring 28; its approach to the quadrant being limited by the slope of 22 after the eye has gripped the quadrant rod I6. .Its movement to the left is limited by the stop edge 29 of the lever coming into contact with shaft I2.

Accordingly in order to release the lever l0 and the brakes, the lever i0 is manually moved to the left in the drawing, and held in that position while being swung down to its brake-off position. The lever may also be moved to and held at its left-hand position while being pulled up to apply the brakes and then while being held against downward releasing movement, be moved to the right to cause it to lock.

It will be seen that the right-handed pivotal movement of the lever l0, after it has been pulled longitudinal separation, but allows the small extent of rotational play necessary for this form of the invention. The outer end of the tubular body is formed as or has rigidly mounted on it, the hand grip H The arm 39 extends rigidly from the shaft IZ The detent tongue IS is in this case passed through a transverse slot 4| in the arm l0 and i rigidly secured there by a rivet 42. As in the prior example said tongue 19* is formed at its free end 43 as an eye 20 surrounding the quadrant IB and slightly exceeding the latter in diameter.

The second hand lever indicated by I0, is of the same construction as the hand lever IIJ Mounted on it is the twisting spring 44 tending always to rotate its tubular handle shaft Ill anti-clockwise and so-a-cting through crank "lever'45 the coupling rod 38 and the crank lever up in the A direction to the position at which the brakes are properly on, forcibly tilts the tongue into locking engagement with the quadrant; consequently the slacking back movement of the lever l0 upon its becoming locked, is negligible. v

Means are provided for locking the tongue against sliding movement when it is in its quadrant gripping position, so as to lock the car against unauthorized removal. A key lock 30 is fitted within the hollow portion of the lever In. Its rotating barrel 3| presents the key slot 32 at the outside of the lever and is connected by the crank 33 and link 34 to the sliding plate 35. The latter provides the edge 36 which. by rotation of the barrel 3|, enters the mouth 3! in the side of ton e l9 and so secured thelatter in its tilted up position.

The regular hand brake lever I0 is usually positioned at the left-hand of the driver; and it is sometimes desirable to provide an additional such lever positioned at the drivers right so as to be readily accessible to a person sitting beside the driver. .An additional hand lever of this kind and indicated by [0 is inexpensively provided according to the invention by connecting it to the similarly extended shaft l2 by the pivot joint 2'! similar to joint 21 and by connecting both levers by a parallel motion link 38. The shaft connection ensures that both levers swing up and down together and the link connection ensures that they swing horizontally together, so that all their movements are identical. The putting on and release of the brakes and the clutching or release of the detent can thus be accomplished with either lever ID or Ill without interference from the other.

Referring to Figs. 7 to 10 the brake hand lever comprises a tubular handle shaft I 0 mounted on the arm 39 so as to be rigid with the latter except that it can rotate thereon about their common axis. A cross pin 40 holds said par s against 46tending to rotate the tubular handle shaft Ill in the same direction and thereby to tilt the detent tongue angularly to the quadrant It as shown in Figs, 7 and 9. However by manual rotation of the assembly i0", H or i 0, HP, in the clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow C, the detent tongue IQ can be brought perpendicular to the quadrant as shown in Fig. 10; rotation beyond this point being'prevented by the stop 47 on the crank lever 4-5 coming into contact with the coupling rod 38*.

When pulling up the hand lever 10* or Hl to apply the brake, it is convenient to hold the hand grip ll or ll in the position in which the detent tongue IS is square with the quadrant as shown in Fig. 10. Upon the hand lever being pulled up to the desired extent, it is rotated or allowed to rotate under the influence of the spring 44 so that the detent tongue l9 tilts to the Figs. 7 and 9 position. The eye 20 thereupon looks with the quadrant against the tendency of the lever arm to return by reason of the tension of the rod 38 and the greater this returning tendency the more eifective is th lock. As the result the brake is held on until the hand grip is again purposely rotated in the C direction.

I claim: I

1. The combination of a hand brake lever pivoted to rotate about an axis transverse to its length, a fixed quadrant co-axial with the lever about said axis, said lever also being rotatable about its own lengthwise axis, means extending laterally from the lever to engage with the quadrant or disengage therefrom according to its angularity thereto, said angularity being varied by the rotation of the lever about its own axis.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, in which the laterally extending means consists of a tongue rigid with the lever and gapped to embrace the quadrant, the rotation of the lever about its lengthwise axis to release itself from the quadrant bringing the gap perpendicular to the length of the quadrant.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 comprising spring means tending to rotate the lever about its own axis in the direction causing the means to engage with the quadrant. V

4. The subject matter of claim 1, in which the lever terminates in a hand grip cranked from the lengthwise axis of the lever.

5. The combination with a brake actuating lever mounted to be capable of movement simultaneously in at least two mutually perpendicular directions, of a second brake actuating lever similarly mounted, means connecting the levers to keep them parallel with one another in both of said directions, brake actuating mechanism controlled by movement of the levers in one of said directions and lever detent mechanism controlled by movement of the levers in the other of said directions.

6. The combination of a shaft mounted to rock about its axis, two hand levers rigid with the shaft as regards the rocking movement of the latter, and arranged with their axes parallel with one another and perpendicular to the shaft axis, each lever being further rotatable about its own lengthwise axis,smeans connecting the levers to synchronize their rotation, brake actuating means operated by the rocking of the shaft and brake detent means operated by the lever rotational movement.

CHARLES WILLIAM CALDWELL. 

